1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a telematics system, and more particularly to a telematics terminal and a method for transmitting route guidance data to a receiving terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Telematics is a compound word derived from the words “telecommunication” and “informatics”. Telematics is a technique for transmitting mobile communication services and position tracking services to a vehicle so as to provide a driver in real time with various application services, such as information about vehicle accidents, vehicle burglary, driving route guidance, traffic and wildlife, and games.
Such a telematics system usually provides various application services to a driver while he/she is driving, therefore the telematics system includes a predetermined terminal, called a “telematics terminal”, installed in a vehicle or carried by the driver.
The telematics terminal may include a communication function for communicating with a telematics server or may operate in relation to mobile communication terminals, such as portable phones. Generally, telematics terminals do not have display devices, so they may provide image information, for example, a route guidance image, by utilizing a display device, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), of a mobile communication terminal.
Currently, as new high-quality hardware has been introduced in portable phones, a universal serial bus (USB) capable of transmitting mass storage data is provided for the portable phone. Thus, various telematics terminals utilizing such USB capable portable phones have been developed. That is, telematics terminals have been developed that are capable of transmitting/receiving images to/from mobile communication terminals by using the USB.
The mobile communication terminals have various kinds of hardware specifications. In addition, various applications for the mobile communication terminals have been developed and widely used. Accordingly, display performance of the mobile communication terminals may vary depending on the types of hardware specifications and applications of the mobile communication terminals.
However, conventional telematics terminals cannot recognize the display performance of the mobile communication terminals, and therefore create and transmit route guidance data without considering the display performance, for example, a size of an LCD and resolution, of the mobile communication terminal. That is, telematics terminals store map data in flash memory that includes vector data of predetermined rectangular area units and image data, creates route guidance data based on such map data, and transmits the route guidance data to a mobile communication terminal without considering the display performance of the mobile communication terminal.
Accordingly, when the mobile communication terminal displays the route guidance data, an error often occurs due to a mismatch between the route guidance data and the display performance of the mobile communication terminal. For instance, the mobile communication terminal may display only a part of an image because the telematics terminal transmits the route guidance data including images having large sizes and vector data to the mobile communication terminal. In addition, it takes a long time for the mobile communication terminal to display the images and vector data because the telematics terminal transmits the route guidance data including mass storage image data to the mobile communication terminal.